The present invention relates, in general, to quick connectors.
Snap-fit or quick connectors are employed in a wide range of applications, particularly, for joining fluid carrying conduits in automotive and industrial applications. In a typical quick connector, a retainer is fixedly mounted within a bore in a housing or conduit. The retainer has a plurality of radially extending arms which extend inwardly toward the axial center line of the bore. A tube to be sealingly mounted in the bore includes a radially upset portion which abuts an inner peripheral surface of the retainer arms. Seal and spacer members as well as a bearing or top hat are typically mounted in the bore ahead of the retainer to form a seal between the female housing or conduit and the tube when the tube is lockingly engaged with the retainer arms.
In such a connector, it is necessary to first mount the sealing members, the top hat, and the retainer in the bore in the housing or conduit. A stuffer plug disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,136 has been devised for this purpose. This stuffer pin includes an elongated, tubular rod which coaxially supports sealing elements and a retainer element prior to insertion of such elements into the bore in a housing. Positioning means in the form of annular grooves are formed in the end of the rod for supporting O-ring type seal members. An annular projection formed with an inclined surface is also formed on the rod and engages the retainer element to releasibly mount the retainer on the stuffer plug body before the rod is inserted into the bore of the housing. Once the rod is fully inserted into the bore in the housing, the retainer element engages the housing and is locked in place. This permits the rod to be withdrawn, during which the seal elements slide from the rod and are positioned in the bore in the housing.
While the stuffer plug disclosed in this patent provides a suitable means for mounting sealing elements and a retainer in the bore in a housing of a quick-type connector, due to manufacturing tolerances, the O-ring seals can vary in diameter such that such seals can frequently be oversized so as not to remain in the annular positioning grooves in the rod prior to insertion of the rod into the bore in the housing. Such seals can then fall off of the stuffer plug thereby hindering assembly of the quick connector or resulting in an incomplete quick connector.
It would be desirable to provide a stuffer pin for a quick connector which ensures that the sealing members and the retainer element remain in position on the stuffer pin prior to the insertion of the stuffer pin into a bore in a housing. It would also be desirable to provide a stuffer pin having these features which also enables that the sealing member and the retainer element can be easily removed from the stuffer pin with low force requirements during withdrawal of the stuffer pin from the bore in the housing. It would be desirable to provide a stuffer pin having these features which also provides self-centering of the seal members and the retainer element in the bore in the housing. Finally, it would be desirable to provide a stuffer pin having these features which also includes a suitably formed handle for easy manual finger gripping or for automated insertion and withdrawal of the stuffer pin into and out of the bore in a housing.